The device is primarily intended to be used for connection of a clutch release bearing with a cup spring forming part of a coupling. A coupling, e.g. in an automobile, constitutes a member situated between a motor an a gear box. When assembling the driving system, it is thereby an advantage if the coupling is pre-mounted, e.g. upon the motor, whereby the gear box must only be pushed into intended position at the coupling for fitting against the motor. In this case, the clutch release bearing intended for the control of the coupling must be connectable to the cup spring, which causes the compressing force upon the friction discs of the coupling without this spring being reachable from the side facing away from the motor. An arrangement for effecting this is described in, e.g., DE-A 2639766. This arrangement, however, suffers from certain drawbacks. The cup spring, thus, must be provided with a particular connecting member, which must be mounted before the coupling is attached to the motor. The clutch release bearing, furthermore, cannot be dismounted from this connecting member by being pulled back the same way as it was pushed in at the assembly, as a non-reachable locking ring prevents the movement of the bearing in this direction. When dismantling the clutch release bearing it is, thus, necessary that both gear box and coupling are removed from the motor.
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a connecting device of the type mentioned, which allows mounting and dismounting with accessibility from only one side of one of the members to be interconnected, and which does not incorporate such elements which must be premounted upon said member from the inaccessible side. This obtained according to the invention in that the device comprises an annular member having a plurality of circumferentially spaced catch fingers each having an axially extending terminal end portion engageable in a space between the projections on the cylindrical portion of the bearing and normally positioning the spring fingers in a manner to prevent relative rotation of the spring member. The catch fingers are displaceable axially toward the bearing to a point where the terminal end portions disengage the projections to permit relative rotation of the spring member and cylindrical portion to a portion where the catch fingers are aligned with the gaps between the projections to permit disassembly of the spring in an axial direction opposite in an axial direction away from the bearing.
With such a device it is, e.g., possible to mount a coupling on a motor and a clutch release bearing can be mounted on the input shaft of a gear box, whereupon the driving system motor-coupling-gear box can be assembled by the gear box being pushed into the intended position against the motor, whereby the clutch release bearing is automatically connected to the cup spring, which is affecting the coupling friction discs. Dismantling of the clutch release bearing can be effected without the entire coupling having to be removed from the motor.